'We need more shoes, a bridal shop, a florist'

Brookfield CT

30 August, 2021

10:43 AM

Description

By Scott Benjamin BROOKFIELD – Until 12 years ago residents complained about traffic congestion through an intersection where there were a reported 30,000 vehicle trips on a typical weekday. Now some of them are concerned that as the area is being transformed into a New England-style central business district there is too much housing and not enough retail outlets to make people want to shop there. "Brookfield Town Center always comes up in the conversation," Austin Monteiro, a petitioning candidate for first selectman, said regarding his interaction with voters. He explained that "people were expecting Main Street, Ridgefield or Greenwood Avenue, Bethel, and they are not getting that." Third-term Democratic First Selectman Steve Dunn recently told Brookfield Patch that Brookfield Town Center "has been carefully planned through the use of the Town's Plan of Conservation and Development and the creation of a completely new set of Zoning laws from the ground up three years ago." Monteiro, 38, faces Republican nominee Tara Carr and Dunn in the November 2 election. It has been four years since the groundbreaking for the first phase of the streetscape for the 198-acre area near the Four Corners intersection of Federal Road. Two phases have been completed and two more should be under construction within a year. The first buildings at Brookfield Village have been completed with retail outlets and apartments above them. Another large building is going up on that parcel. The central business district was the vision of former Democratic First Selectman Ken Keller, who initiated plans for it in the late 1980s shortly after he lost his bid for a third term and became chairman of the municipal Economic Development Commission. The program became plausible on November 19, 2009 when then-Gov. M. Jodi Rell (R-Brookfield) was in the first car to travel the 2.1-mile Route 7 bypass, which changed the dynamics of the Four Corners. The Brookfield Journal has reported that former U.S. Rep. James Maloney (D-5) of Danbury said in 1998 that 90 percent of the vehicles traveling the Four Corners represented "through traffic." With the opening of the bypass motorists could easily take left-hand turns through the Four Corners and Brookfield could have a business district to complement the southern corridor of Federal Road, which has such big box attractions as Costco, B.J.'s Wholesale, as well as a collection of furniture stores. But some residents are disappointed with the initial results. "It's nice up there, there's a walkway. But even Brookfield people don't go there. . . It needs to be more like Main Street, Ridgefield," said Pat Iapaluccio during a pancake breakfast and mini golf meet and greet that Monteiro held recently at JJ Stacks on Federal Road. Bridget Lutterbach, another supporter of Monteiro's, added, "People go no farther than Costco and Market Place [Tavern]" on the southern corridor of Federal Road. "They need more restaurants or something in there," she said. "We need shoes, a bridal shop, a florist." Site work has begun on a supermarket in the Brookfield Town Center, near the Still River Greenway. "That should help," said Lutterbach. "There really is nothing up there except Traveling Chic Boutique." Remarked Iapaluccio, "They are focusing more on the housing. There are a lot of [business] vacancies out there." Lutterbach said, "I don't like what I see coming out of that apartment complex" at Brookfield Village above the retail areas. "It is not the clientele that I thought would go in there." Standing near the entrance to JJ Stacks, Monteiro and his girlfriend, Heather Nimsger – a school teacher in Westchester County - greeted guests, some of whom took home campaign lawn signs. Together they recently collected the petition signatures that put him on the ballot. "This is a grassroots campaign," said Monteiro, who estimated that he will probably, at most, raise $1,000. He had been recommended by the Republican Vacancy Committee for one of the Other Selectman's seats on the three-member Board of Selectmen. Instead, the full Republican Town Committee endorsed incumbent Other Selectman Harry Shaker, who had been the GOP nominee for first selectman in 2017. Monteiro- a commercial real estate agent who operates a fitness center out of his garage - immediately changed his registration to unaffiliated and embarked on a campaign as a petitioning candidate for first selectman. He is about to open a headquarters at 616 Federal Road. Said Lutterbach, who initially learned about Monteiro's campaign through the social media, "He's well-versed on what needs to be done in town. He knows that we need change." She said she also are concerned about the mill rate. "The taxes are the worst," she said. In a recent phone interview, Brookfield Republican Town Committee Chairman George Blass said residents have said they don't understand why their taxes have increased more over the recent years than in neighboring municipalities. The municipal budget had a 1.52 percent increase in the tax mill rate for the current fiscal year and a 1.76 percent hike for the fiscal year that ended last June. Dunn recently told Brookfield Patch that he is "fiscally conservative" and has kept "taxes low." Monteiro has said he would not have increased taxes during a pandemic. On another topic, Monteiro said younger voters in Brookfield feel "disenfranchised." "They are not aware of what's going on locally I believe because it's hard for them to find info because of the lack of presence from the Selectman's office and it's my goal to change this," he said, indicating that he would be very active via the social media. Monteiro said that the highest turnout in the municipal election in recent years has been 49 percent. "If we can get more younger people to vote, it could go over 50 percent this year, and it would be incredible," he said. The Washington Post has reported that in a speech at Georgetown University, his alma mater, in 2003, former Democratic President Bill Clinton said if people 30 and under voted at the same rate as those 55 and older, you would have a different U.S. Congress. If that were the case in Brookfield, would you have a different municipal government? Monteiro declared, "That may be the one thing I agree with Bill Clinton on. Yes, if we had a larger voter turnout with our younger population especially right now, then we would have a completely different government and propaganda - a better government in my opinion."